Roofing



May 11 1926. 1,584,054

H. R. WARDELL ROOFING Filed Dec. 12, 1923 a /%%7//% WW /7 Patented May11, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,584,054 PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY R. WARDELL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO JOHNS-MANVILLE, INO OFNEW YORK, N. Y-, A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ROOFING.

Application filed December 12, 1923. Serial No. 680,098.

This invention has to do with the provision of a composite waterproof,fire-reslsting roof covering of material adapted to be made, sold anderected in strips or separate units, and which, when erected, willproduce a pleasing surface, in the aesthetic sense, reminiscent of theeffect of wooden shingles, and adapted to resist deformation under windstresses and great changes of temperature.

Sheet or roll roofing of satisfactory qualities has heretofore beenproduced. In the best form known to me, such sheet roofings comprise oneor more (preferably two or three) layers of a water-laid felt or thickpaper comprised of woolen or vegetable rag stock, or asbestos fibre, orcattle-hair, or appropriate admixtures of asbestos fibre and one or moreof the other materials the laminae or sheets of this felt or papercompound being impregnated with a relatively hard asphalt, and thelaminae being aggregated together with asphalt of the same or a harderconsistency; the composite sheet so formed having upon it a layer of.asphalt, and mingled with, covering over and attached by this layer,having an armoring coating of a mineral grit, for example broken andgraded slate, or broken and graded serpentine rock, or other suitablegranulated weather-resisting or decorative substances such as granulatedcork.

The materials alluded to form a wholly satisfactory roof in sheet form,but they are not well adapted without change for use in the form ofsmall slabs, shingles, or shingle strips. In this .use',-"the lower freeend of the slab or shingle is necessarily required to support itself,against wind stresses and against spontaneous curling, by the unaidedstiffness of the projecting end of the slab or shingle; for this, thefabrics referred to are too fiexible'to be reliable under allconditions. Moreover, the single sheet or composite fabrics mentioned donot have enough thickness or enough irregularity of form to provide asurface pleasingly broken by perceptible cast-shadow lines. It is notexaggeration to say that the ornamental effect of the exposed ends ofshingles is the sole justification for the employment of shingles,slates or separate-unit or strip-sheet composite shingles in preferenceto the employment of sheet or roll roofing. The utilitarianconsiderations are in favor of the large sheet or continuous roll, whichpossess continuity and sufier no damage from the actlon of wind orweather on free ends or corners, and which possess the advantage ofcapacity to be ered, in any recent practice in this country,

with any other kind of surface than one built up of assembled unitshingles, slates, tiles or slabs, except on temporary buildings orout-buildings in which architectural appearance is deliberatelysacrificed to cheapness and utility.

Objects of this invention are to provide a shingle or tile unit orshinglestrip of composite waterproof and fire-resistant constructionwhich shall resist curling, warping, disintegration, wind-damage, anddamage by repeated alternations of high and low temperatures, the actionof freezing water, ice and snow; to provide a composite water andfire-proof shingle, tile or shingle-strip having a structure such as inassembly to give the exposed and free ends of the units inherentresistance to deformation; and

which will provide in assembly a roof which shall have a shadow-castingstructure adapted to replace as an element of architectural ornament theeffect of the thick and varied ends of the familiar wooden shingle; andto provide a method of making shingles or tiles having these qualities.

The method and article of this invention will now be explained inconnection with a typical species of the product selected forillustration and. constituting a single-unit composite shingle or tile,as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a fragment of a roof laid with theillustrated shingle;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of one shingle;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged transverse section of a shingle under manufactureillustrating a step in the method;

'Fig. 4 is an enlarged left side elevation of the shingle of Fig. 2;

on line 5-5 of Fig. 2;

Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively comparative cross-sections at lines 66and 7-7 of Fig.

2; and

- gether by a layer or layers a gritty layer 9 of crushed and gradedslate or other armoring, fire-proof mineral substance or substances isapplied, and to which said layer adheres. Such material is no part ofthe present claimed invention except in so far as it contributes to theimproved shingle and the roof made up of the improved shingle desirablequalities adapted to this use.

Preferably the units or shingles 1 are single as shown, but it isobvious that for some of the purposes of the invention a strip dividedinto separate projecting units slightly spaced apart, like the usualstrip shingles, might be employed and have the remaining features ofthis invention.

The rectangular shingle blank 1, according to this invention, isprovided, see Figs. 2 to 7 inclusive particularly, near its lateralmargins and at one end only with a tapered or progressively rising ridgeor rib 2. In length, the ribs 2 may merge with or becomeindistinguishable from the general plane of the upper surface of theblanks 1 at points 3 about one-third of the length of the shingle fromthe projecting or free end of the shingle in use. In a preferred formthe ribs 2, as will be best perceived from Fig. 3, which illustrates astep in the manufacture, are rounded, somewhat more 1 compressed andthinner in respect to the remainder of the blank or shingle at theregion 4, and have edge portions standing at a considerable angleapproaching a right angle to the general plane of the shingle 1 at thepoints indicated at 5, 5. Through out the surface of the ribs 2 thearmoring coat 9 is maintained relatively undisturbed, so that thetexture of the surface of the ribs 2 does not differ materially from thetexture of the surface of the shingles elsewhere.

At and near the points where the ribs 2 merge into the general plane ofthe body of the shingle 1, for example at the lines -77, Figs. 2 and 7,the ribs 2 differ in cross section from higher parts of the ribs 2 indefining a flatter curve, but preferably this part of these ribs is asbroad at the surface of the shingle as is any part of the rib 2. Themerging or disappearance of the rib 2 1nto the remainder of the shingleis thus characterized by the absence of any sharp bends or corners.

Preferably the shingle also contains a transverse rib along its free endor bottom, for example as shown at 6, Figs. 2, 4 and 5. This transverserib or corrugation is preferably like the higher and more definite partsof the rib or corrugation 2, and may, as shown, merely continue the ribor corrugation 2 around the end or transverse edge of the shingle.

The ribs or corrugations 2 and 6, which are merely typical of other ribsor corrugations which may, if desired, be formed in the body of theblank or shingle 1, are relied upon to lncrease the efi'ective thicknessof the edges of the shingle or blank 1 without distortion of the shape,illustrated as rectangular, of the blank or portion of the blank inwhich they are formed; this may be secured by forming them bycompression between dies. Fig. 3, for example, is a vertical sectionthrough a female die member 9 andmale die member 10 suitable for formingthe ribs 2, the female die member 9 having therein longitudinaldepressions 12 not quite central with respect to the surface contours ofthe bending ridges l3 on the male member 10, whereby a blank 1 havingthe coated face g downward and placed in the die member 1s first grippedat about the regions 4, and 1s then subjected to progressive bending andcompression toward the lateral edges 14, 14 of the blank 1 as the diesare forced together to form the ribs or corrugations. This Way offorming ribs or ridges or corrugations not only preserves the texture ofthe coating 9 and the surfaces of the ridges 2, but induces a maximumstretching, and therefore thinning, effect of the compression at theregions 4-.rather than at the regions 5, 14. The edges of the shingleare thus of full thickness and rigidity proper to the material of whichthe shingle is made. The ridge 6 may be formed in the same way at thesame time by the same operations.

The die-bending may be carried out while the blank is hot or cold, butthe preferred materials are all sufliciently plastic and flexible topermit die-bending as described at ordinary temperatures.

As so made, individual shingles or shingle strips will nest in packagesfor shipment, but it is impossible to avoid, and it is not desired toavoid, a considerable irregular accidental denting, flattening andirregularity of the contour of the corrugations 2, 6, going about thelower exposed ends of the shingles. Thus, when the shingles are in placeon a roof, as illustrated in Fig. l, the several surrounding ridges 2, 6of the shingles may be depended upon to vary one from the lll other -inheight and in shape slightly so that the roof will present a pattern ofcastshadow lines due to the ridges 2, 6, which is everywhere slightlyvariable, and without the machine-like regularity sought to be avoided.

It is not necessary that the ridges 2, 6 for this or any purpose shouldvery greatly exceed the thickness of the body of the shingles 1. It issufiicient for the purpose of this invention to so increase theeffective thickness at the edges of the shingle as to cause it to cast amaterially larger shadow than would be the case if the shingle were onlyof the thickness of the blanks 1.

It has been determined by use and observation that the lateralcorrugations or ridges 2 when overlapped and nailed or otherwise securedin the usual way by the systematic laying of shingles to form a roofsuch as that illustrated by the fragment shown in Fig. I contribute toan unexpected degree to the stifiness of the shingle and the resistanceto deformation by temperature'warping, by the effect of wind, or theeffect of moisture. Shingles with edge ridges of this characteruniformly lie Hat, and uniformly resist great wind pressures which, ifthe shingles ..were ordinary cut slabs with flat edges, would causemarked bending and curling away from the laid position. I attribute thisin part to the curved cross section of the corrugations which,particularly in relation to impinging air currents, provides a structureadapted to hold itself more firmly in the laid position the harder it isblown upon by an impinging wind.

I claim:

1. A composite waterproof fire-resisting slab for use as a shinglecomprising a fibrous, asphaltic and surface-armored body having edges ofa tree portion adapted to be exposed in use provided with an upwardlyextending integral rib or corrugation. v

2. A composite waterproof fire-resisting slab for use as a shinglecomprising a fibrous, asphaltic and surface-armored body having edges ofa tree portion adapted to be exposed in use provided with an upwardlyextending rounded integral rib or corrugation of variable height, therib merging into the plane of the body at a point between the ends ofthe shingle.

3. A composite waterproof fire-resisting slab for use as a shinglecomprising a fibrous, asphaltic and surface-armored body having edges ofa free portion adapted to be exposed in use provided with an upwardlyextending rounded integral rib or corrugation constituted by an upwardbend of the material of the shingle progressively defining a flattercurve at greater distances from that end of the shingle exposed in use.p

4. A composite waterproof fire-resisting slab for use as a shinglecomprising a fibrous, asphaltic and mineral-armored body having edges ofa free portion adapted to be exposed in use provided with an upwardlyextending rounded integral rib or corrugation, the material of theshingle and the structure of the said rib being such as to cause thesaid rib to be subject .to slight accidental variations of form inshipment and erection.

5. A composite waterproof fire-resisting slab for use as a shinglecomprising a fibrous, asphaltic and mineral-armored body having edges ofa tree portion adapted to be exposed in use provided with an upwardlyextending rounded integral rib or corrugation extending around all ofthe edges of said exposed end, the lateral edge-ribs progressivelydiminishing in height with distance from the end edge-rib.

6. A composite waterproof fire-resisting slab for use as a shinglecomprising a fibrous, asphaltic and mineral-armored body having edges ofa free portion adapted to be exposed in use provided with an upwardlyextending rounded integral rib or corruga tion extending around all ofthe edges of said exposed end, the lateral edge-ribs progressivelydiminishing in height with distance from the end edge-rib, the ribbedand plane portions of the shingle having the same lateral widththroughout.

Signed byme at New York, N. Y., this 10th day of December,1923.

HENRY R. l/VARDELL.

